The city of Timbuktu in northern Mali is not only home to historic mosques and sacred tombs, but also an enormous collection of old manuscripts that illustrate the rich intellectual history of the region. All of this is now under threat from a wave of barbarism by salafists Arabs who have seized control of northern Mali.

European historians long claimed that Africa had no written history or intellectual tradition and that the first light of civilisation arrived there with the European colonisation. But if there is one city in Africa that dispels this White myth, it is Timbuktu.

Centre of intellectual life

This city on the northernmost part of the river Niger, at the edge of the Sahara, was a thriving centre of commerce from the 13th century. There, merchants traded in gold, salt and other commodities. Europeans first arrived to the city in the 19th century, but historians like explorer Ibn Battuta described the city with admiration some five hundred years earlier.

Timbuktu is best known for its historic mosques and mausoleums, where Sufi saints are entombed. But only recently did people realize that, aside from a centre of trade, the city was also a significant centre of intellectual life. In the late 1990s, an international research team found a number of private libraries where prominent families from Timbuktu kept tens of thousands of medieval manuscripts. Written in various African languages and Arabic, the manuscripts showed the world that 13th-century West African scholars were deeply engaged in the study of religious subjects but also logic, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and natural sciences.

I'm only human, it's my biggest flaw.

We must all realize a sink a chair and a pillow are all luxuries of home and a soldiers helmet takes the place of all three.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

Remote U.S. base at core of secret operations

. . .Djibouti is the clearest example of how the United States is laying the groundwork to carry out these operations overseas. For the past decade, the Pentagon has labeled Lemonnier an “expeditionary,” or temporary, camp. But it is now hardening into the U.S. military’s first permanent drone war base.

In August, the Defense Department delivered a master plan to Congress detailing how the camp will be used over the next quarter-century. About $1.4 billion in construction projects, including a huge new compound that could house up to 1,100 Special Operations forces, more than triple the current number. . .

Today, Camp Lemonnier is the centerpiece of an expanding constellation of half a dozen U.S. drone and surveillance bases in Africa, created to combat a new generation of terrorist groups across the continent, from Mali to Libya to the Central African Republic.

. . .Lemonnier also has become a hub for conventional aircraft. In October 2011, the military boosted the airpower at the base by deploying a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, which can fly faster and carry more munitions than Predators. . .

In an Aug. 20 letter to Congress explaining the emergency contract (to build new runway), Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said that 16 drones and four fighter jets take off or land at the Djibouti airfield each day, on average. Those operations are expected to increase, he added, without giving details. . .

The Leader of the Coup that toppled elected government of Mali & led to Taureg takeover of Northern Mali - "Captain Amadou Sanogo Haya (formed in the United States between 2004 and 2010)"

English language reports say that he received military training in the US....I was thinking that he might have gone through one of those 3-6 month joint training programs our allies take part in - but SIX YEARS...WOW

Throughout the active part of the coup (seizing bases, gov't offices, and the TV station) he wore a US Flag lapel pin he had received from USMC... Many Malians thought it meant he had backing of the US....

Since the coup (which toppled democratic gov't just before an election in which the incumbent President WAS NOT running) - he has interrupted every effort to create a stable gov't in Mali...

When Sanogo was supposed to step down, they found this ancient guy to be the interim President until elections could be held...Sanogo's followers beat him up & he had to flee to France...

Wow - IMHO - more confirmation that this entire war is being staged...

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

Background on Sanogo's role in current Situation in Mali (six years in United States)

. . .The poorly equipped Malian military, charged with suppressing the rebellion, suffered significant losses at the hands of the MNLA . . . Such events, compiled with pre-existing frustrations, triggered a military coup in March 2012 led by low-ranking officer Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo.

The collapse of President ATT's democratically elected government quickly created the very situation that the Malian military had attempted to prevent. By April, the secular MNLA aligned itself with the Islamist militant group Ansar Dine and declared their captured territory, “Azawad,” to be an independent state. . .

After President ATT left for exile, ECOWAS denounced the military coup, closed borders, imposed sanctions, and pressured (Sanogo) to establish a transitional government. Reluctantly, the junta transferred power to Speaker of the National Assembly Dioncounda Traoré.

However, upon coming to power, the interim government was unable to restore order. . . A mob attacked and injured Traoré outside of his residence. Traoré was flown to France for treatment and did not return to Bamako until the end of July. (Mob of Sanogo supporters)

Furthermore, despite being sent back to their barracks, the military (Sanogo) continues to hinder progress by attempting to insert itself into government.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

Speaking of the Emir of Qatar - the acting President of Mali is in Doha this week....

(This excerpt in translated so its a little rough)

Mali's Acting President Traoré met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, in Doha. Traore had a mission: to convince the Emir of Qatar to be at his side in the crisis Mali. . .

Qatar is important in the Middle East but Qatar is also suspected by intelligence services, including French, (of assisting) various armed groups who control the northern Mali. Traore wanted the Emir of Qatar to understand the crisis as perceived by the Malian government.

Traore explained the situation in the north of Mali. He explained the development efforts in the North since the last peace deal with the Tauregs (in 2006). He wanted the Emir of Qatar to understand that it was better to be on the side of the State rather than the side of armed groups, at least if Qatar's activities in Northern Mali were motivated by economic or geopolitical interests.

According a member of his delegation, the Emir said his country could not do anything about the crisis in Mali and that he had at no time provided support to Tuareg rebels or the Islamists.

According to Doha, the Malian crisis is due to poverty. And the emir assured the Malian president he would make an outstanding contribution to the development of Mali, but only after the crisis.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

Speaking of the Emir of Qatar - the acting President of Mali is in Doha this week....

(This excerpt in translated so its a little rough)

Mali's Acting President Traoré met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, in Doha. Traore had a mission: to convince the Emir of Qatar to be at his side in the crisis Mali. . .

Qatar is important in the Middle East but Qatar is also suspected by intelligence services, including French, (of assisting) various armed groups who control the northern Mali. Traore wanted the Emir of Qatar to understand the crisis as perceived by the Malian government.

Traore explained the situation in the north of Mali. He explained the development efforts in the North since the last peace deal with the Tauregs (in 2006). He wanted the Emir of Qatar to understand that it was better to be on the side of the State rather than the side of armed groups, at least if Qatar's activities in Northern Mali were motivated by economic or geopolitical interests.

According a member of his delegation, the Emir said his country could not do anything about the crisis in Mali and that he had at no time provided support to Tuareg rebels or the Islamists.

According to Doha, the Malian crisis is due to poverty. And the emir assured the Malian president he would make an outstanding contribution to the development of Mali, but only after the crisis.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

The natural resources of Mali are abundant consisting of gold, uranium, phosphates, limestone, kaolin, salt, gypsum, and granite. Other than gold, no other mineral commodity was produced in huge quantities 2010. Mali also has several other unexploited natural resources such as iron ore, lead, copper, nickel, manganese, bauxite, rutile, silver, talc, titanium, niobium, palladium, lithium, thorium, chromium, zirconium, marble, tungsten, and tin.

Randgold Resources conducts the most number of exploration and mining activities in Mali. Almost 70% of the company’s gold production is from Mali. Randgold expects to produce 600,000 ounces of gold this year. The company claimed that the military coup earlier this year had not affected its functions. [link to www.azomining.com]

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

According to fresh reports, the northern part of Mali is found to be rich in oil and, importantly, contains a usable underground water ecosystem. It is worth bearing in mind that over the past few years, the UN International Law Commission was preoccupied with the theme of shared natural resources, with the focus on trans-boundary aquifers instead of traditional staples like energy or precious metals, and even drafted an international convention on the subject (8). The point is that in the case of Mali external players - who had no reasons to throw their support behind the separatists as long as those laid claims to desert lands holding no economic promise - may be attracted by the recently discovered key natural resources. The political approach was manifest in Sudan, which eventually had to say goodbye to its part containing oil reserves. If the analogy is viable, in the foreseeable future we will hear about the independence of “North Mali” (or even about some kind of “North Sudan”, considering that Mali used to be a piece of a country known as Western Sudan till 1960). [link to www.strategic-culture.org]

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

May 2006 cable, published on September 2011 on wikileaks

One and a half years after oil and gas exploration in northern Mali resumed, those searching for &black gold8 may be on the brink of success. To date, the Malian government has opened approximately 700,000 square kilometers of land to oil prospecting. Recent estimates by Australian-owned Baraka Petroleum, which leads the race for Malian oil, suggest that oil may be flowing by the barrel from Mali no later than 2008. For landlocked and poverty-stricken Mali, oil reserves could mean a considerable economic boost. With oil prospecting centered on Mali's politically fragile northern regions, many see a real opportunity for economic diversification, development and growth. At the same time, however, some have serious doubts about the economic viability of extracting oil and gas from Mali's isolated North and further fear that the discovery of oil could upset the already delicate balance between Mali's central government and the Tuareg populations of the North.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

I'd heard about the oil deposits...But the water was news to me...

so let's see...

Qatar is big in the pipeline/oil business...

France has the largest water companies in the world...(was mentioned during Libyan war)

US is home to world's largest military industrial complex (earlier articles said Mali's terrain was perfect for air campaign (no cover - like Libya))...

I remember the Wikileaks Stratfor e-mails recounted a planning meeting re: Libya. US DOD wanted to intervene b/c they thought it was perfect for their tech; UK & France were all about the commercial possibilities...

It might be the same thing in Mali....

So we know what they are doing...Staged war...We know why...We'll say convergence of interests...

We see it coming from a mile away, but no one cares...

Quoting: DarbyDoom

Yep, totally staged wars. I was just impressed that the cable "predicted" the situation in the northern part of Mali 6 years ago. I was also looking in that Ranghold gold company, lots of downgrades and upgrades by credit companies in the last year, Qatar is heavilly buying gold mining companies all over the world the last couple of years, maybe there is a clash of interests there for how they will share Mali's wealth, who knows. Point is off course that Mali is doing ok in the resources dept as it was expected, i'm not surprised at all, just wanted to be sure.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

If I am not mistaken Liberia is already a colony.Great thread I feel you are correct and way ahead of the curve that curves back the other way.WOW,,,You deserve more than just a pin you deserve a guest appearance on a major radio show with this.This is that good.Thanks I will be watching

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

We see it coming from a mile away, but no one cares...

Quoting: DarbyDoom

Yep, totally staged wars. I was just impressed that the cable "predicted" the situation in the northern part of Mali 6 years ago. I was also looking in that Ranghold gold company, lots of downgrades and upgrades by credit companies in the last year, Qatar is heavilly buying gold mining companies all over the world the last couple of years, maybe there is a clash of interests there for how they will share Mali's wealth, who knows. Point is off course that Mali is doing ok in the resources dept as it was expected, i'm not surprised at all, just wanted to be sure.

I know this war is not about the Taureg... But when you aren't even using their word for the area....The Neo-Colonialism is too obvious...

As for natural resources, Mali is in that sweet spot - they know the resources are there, but the natives are probably blissfully unaware of the potential - ripe for exploitation...

Oh and if you are really into conspiracy theories - the air fields of Northern Mali are major transit points in the international drug trade. Afghan heroin to North America and cocaine for Europe - the hand-off point is Mali.

It's become so entrenched, MNLA members were arrested in South America gun-running for FARC... [link to www.isn.ethz.ch]

Quoting: DarbyDoom

You don't have to be into conspiracies to see that the international drug trade has important connections with extremism, it's happening even on European soil with Kosovo, i can't even imagine what's happening to Magreb and other African countries like Somalia for example.

Agreed that the natives in Mali are probably blissfully unaware for their resources, it have been this way for centuries in Africa unfortunately! :(

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

This website has great background on the Tauregs...

Basically, many analysts believe that due to class & tribal issues, the Taureg will never be able to create a unified state.

Tauregs have a highly hierarchical social structure. Ifogas (or Iforas) are northern Mali's traditional Tuareg nobles. Most rebel leaders are Ifogas. The Idnane are middle class. There are Idnanes in the MNLA, but in earlier rebellions, the Malian government was able to exploit differences between the 2 classes to split rebel alliances. There are also slave classes, who are often black. They usually have not supported Taureg rebellions.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

This website has great background on the Tauregs...

Basically, many analysts believe that due to class & tribal issues, the Taureg will never be able to create a unified state.

Tauregs have a highly hierarchical social structure. Ifogas (or Iforas) are northern Mali's traditional Tuareg nobles. Most rebel leaders are Ifogas. The Idnane are middle class. There are Idnanes in the MNLA, but in earlier rebellions, the Malian government was able to exploit differences between the 2 classes to split rebel alliances. There are also slave classes, who are often black. They usually have not supported Taureg rebellions.

Interesting info, Niger could be the next country hit by some kind of rebellion then, they had one until 2009 and they have the biggest Tuareg population in the region and surprise, uranium makes up for 72% of national exports.

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

This website has great background on the Tauregs...

Basically, many analysts believe that due to class & tribal issues, the Taureg will never be able to create a unified state.

Tauregs have a highly hierarchical social structure. Ifogas (or Iforas) are northern Mali's traditional Tuareg nobles. Most rebel leaders are Ifogas. The Idnane are middle class. There are Idnanes in the MNLA, but in earlier rebellions, the Malian government was able to exploit differences between the 2 classes to split rebel alliances. There are also slave classes, who are often black. They usually have not supported Taureg rebellions.

Interesting info, Niger could be the next country hit by some kind of rebellion then, they had one until 2009 and they have the biggest Tuareg population in the region and surprise, uranium makes up for 72% of national exports.

Quoting: insertfunnyusername

Both Niger & Mali have uranium...But I don't think Mali has uranium mines...

As for who's next, watching three countries fall apart (Syria, Libya, & Mali) is enough to me....I'll get a new hobby before the next country.....Although I've been hearing a lot of buzz about Polisario of late....

Quoting: DarbyDoom

I said Niger coz of the biggest Tuareg population in the region, almost twice of the Mali's and lots of conflicts and instability the past decade in Niger too. Believe me it's enough for me too, i find it extremely depressing, some say that 2012 isn't doomy enough but i can't remember when was the last time that violence and hostilities erupted in so many places at the same time, certainly not in my lifetime and unfortunately is spreading fast in other African and Asian countries. It's not looking good at all for 2013 and beyond. Greece being so close to the powder keg and in combination with the financial mess we are into worries me even more tbh.:(

Re: Watch as it Develops - The Staged War Against Islamists in Northern Mali

The next conflict spot - Western Sahara? Here's a brief summary on the Sahrawi issue.

POLISARIO is a Sahrawi rebel group working for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco. The Polisario Front was formed in 1973 to end to Spanish colonization of Western Sahara and create an independent state. However, when Spain withdrew in 1976, Western Sahara was divided between Morocco & Mauritania.

Polisario proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1976, and waged a guerrilla war against both Morocco and Mauritania. As a result of Moroccan Air Force bombings, Polisario moved its headquarters to refugee camps in Tindouf (western Algeria). Throughout the rest of the 1970s, the movement grew as Sahrawi refugees flocked to camps and Algeria and Libya supplied arms and funding.

In 1979, Mauritania signed a peace treaty and formally recognized the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. King Hassan II of Morocco immediately claimed all of Western Sahara. The protracted guerrilla struggle against Morocco continued..

In the mid-1980s Morocco constructed a huge sand wall (the Moroccan Wall), staffed by an army roughly the same size as the entire Sahrawi population, which encloses the economically useful parts of Western Sahara. Today, Polisario controls the part of the Western Sahara on the east of the Moroccan Wall, comprising about a third of the territory, but this area is economically useless, heavily mined, and almost uninhabited.

A cease-fire between Polisario and Morocco, monitored by the UN, has been in effect since 1991, on the promise that an independence referendum would be held. However, the referendum was never held. The King of Morroco personally "owns" much of the occupied territory - on which he maintains large (and profitable) tomato farms.